diff --git a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/mainnet/ParentBeaconBlockRootHelper.java b/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/mainnet/ParentBeaconBlockRootHelper.java
index 2c863add026..5f257c3dd32 100644
--- a/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/mainnet/ParentBeaconBlockRootHelper.java
+++ b/ethereum/core/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/mainnet/ParentBeaconBlockRootHelper.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.mainnet;
 
 import org.hyperledger.besu.datatypes.Address;
+import org.hyperledger.besu.datatypes.Hash;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.evm.account.MutableAccount;
 import org.hyperledger.besu.evm.worldstate.WorldUpdater;
 
@@ -27,8 +28,8 @@
 public interface ParentBeaconBlockRootHelper {
 
   // Modulus to use for the timestamp to store the root
-  public static final long HISTORY_BUFFER_LENGTH = 8191;
-  public static final Address BEACON_ROOTS_ADDRESS =
+  long HISTORY_BUFFER_LENGTH = 8191;
+  Address BEACON_ROOTS_ADDRESS =
       Address.fromHexString("0x000F3df6D732807Ef1319fB7B8bB8522d0Beac02");
 
   static void storeParentBeaconBlockRoot(
@@ -36,13 +37,18 @@ static void storeParentBeaconBlockRoot(
     /*
      see EIP-4788: https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/blob/master/EIPS/eip-4788.md
     */
+    // If code is not deployed don't do anything
+    final MutableAccount account = worldUpdater.getOrCreate(BEACON_ROOTS_ADDRESS);
+    if (Hash.EMPTY.equals(account.getCodeHash())) {
+      return;
+    }
+
     final long timestampReduced = Long.remainderUnsigned(timestamp, HISTORY_BUFFER_LENGTH);
     final long timestampExtended = timestampReduced + HISTORY_BUFFER_LENGTH;
 
     final UInt256 timestampIndex = UInt256.valueOf(timestampReduced);
     final UInt256 rootIndex = UInt256.valueOf(timestampExtended);
 
-    final MutableAccount account = worldUpdater.getOrCreate(BEACON_ROOTS_ADDRESS);
     account.setStorageValue(
         timestampIndex, UInt256.fromBytes(Bytes.of(Longs.toByteArray(timestamp))));
     account.setStorageValue(rootIndex, UInt256.fromBytes(root));